PRESS CONFERENCE BY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SWEDEN

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SWEDEN

Pierre Schori, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations, told a Headquarters press conference this afternoon that a new phase of cooperation in crisis management and conflict prevention had opened between the European Union and the world organization.  The Ambassador announced his country's ratification of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, and also reported on the conclusion of Sweden's six-month Presidency of the European Union. 

With this afternoon's ratification, Mr. Schori said, Sweden had become the thirty-sixth party to the Statute, which would enter into force with

60 ratifications.  He said the Court would be a powerful deterrent to war crimes and would strengthen both the primacy of international law and international peace and security.  In response to a question, he also said the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and his delivery just today to The Hague was another indication of a new chapter in Europe.  The development demonstrated the need for the international court and would encourage ratification.

He said the new cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations was concretely signalled by biennial consultations that had begun at the highest levels between the United Nations and European Union foreign ministers to discuss how new Union assets could contribute and add to United Nations efforts.  Currently, those assets included 60,000 military personnel and 5,000 police to be made available by 2003.  The coordination had no hidden agenda but was based solely on the recognition that "the European Union has means and the United Nations has needs."

Other elements were also contributing to an increased European Union presence in the global environment, he said.  Cooperation with the United Nations had led to increased predictability in European Union programming of development and humanitarian projects.  Historical necessity and relations with the United States, particularly in the Balkans, had led the Union to grow stronger and increase its capacity.  The European Union was not seeking to compete or "beef up" its image, but it was interested in contributing to peace and justice.  The approach was enhancing cooperation between the European Union and its associated countries, which added up to the sizable number of 30 countries.

Mr. Schori said this week's declaration on AIDS issued by the special session of the General Assembly was an example of the United Nations at both its best and its worst.  The negotiations had been among the most hostile ever, but all parties had come to agreement ultimately.  That showed tolerance of views and of involvement by non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  The end result was a document that showed firm commitment.  The endorsement of Kofi Annan for another term as Secretary-General was saluted by the European Union.

In response to a question, Mr. Schori said there was a distinction between crisis management and conflict prevention.  The more that one used the second, he said, the less one needed the first.  The European Union was linking its conflict-prevention activities with those outlined by the Secretary-General.

Asked for the European Union's views on the missile shield the United States was seeking to establish, Mr. Schori made clear there were no negotiations on the issue.  The European Union was sceptical about a missile shield because it was impossible to speculate on results or effects.  In addition, a missile shield seemed immaterial to the new form of terrorism that prompted different questions, such as:  "What do you do against evil forces arriving with biological weapons on your subway?"

Concerning the new administration in the United States, Mr. Schori said Secretary of State Colin Powell had been a frequent visitor to the United Nations.  Now that the furor over the Human Rights Commission had died down, it seemed there was also a new attitude on the part of the Bush administration.  There had been a new willingness to engage in cooperative activities with the European Union on a number of key issues, including the Middle East, the Balkans and the Korean Peninsula.  

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